Man who tried to kidnap women who fled his house in Dubai must see out jail term

A man who tried to kidnap two women who had fled from his house had his one month jail term upheld by the Court of Appeal.

DUBAI // A man who tried to kidnap two women who fled from his house had his one month jail term upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The court was told that one of the Iranian women, 33, had to run almost naked through a supermarket to escape from the Emirati defendant who was chasing her and her 17-year-old friend.

The Emirati and an unidentified man met the victims in a nightclub in Al Muraqqabat, where they drank alcohol then headed back to his home in Oud Mutainah in October last year.

The victims told prosecutors that when they arrived to the man’s flat, other men were there smoking shisha.

The pair said that the men asked to have sex with them. “We felt danger and decided to run away but two of the men chased us in a car and tried to force us back with them,” said the 33-year-old woman.

She said as they were outside a supermarket the men tore off most of her clothes and took her handbag, containing an iPhone and money, as they tried to drag her into the car.

She escaped from them wearing only an underwear and took shelter in the prayer room in the supermarket.

An Emirati policeman, 47, said they received a call from the supermarket about men attacking and trying to force women into their car.

CCTV footage showed two men trying to force a woman into a white Toyota Camry.

The Emirati was charged with attempted kidnap, consuming alcohol without a licence and theft of Dh4,500 and an iPhone. He was sentenced to one month in jail at Dubai Criminal Court, which prosecutors appealed against the sentence seeking a harsher punishment.

The appeals court rejected the plea and upheld the sentence.